How can a theist respond to the problem of evil in the specific case of mental

How can a theist respond to the problem of evil in the specific case of mental

How can a theist respond to the problem of evil in the specific case of mental illness? If God is omniscient and omnipotent, he knows that mental illness causes suffering, and is able to prevent it, but chooses not to. For an omniscient, omnipotent, morally-perfect god to exist, there must be a morally justifying-reason to permit this suffering. The usual theistic responses to the problem of evil do not seem to apply in the specific case of mental illness. The free will defence fails because mental illness actually suppresses free will; therefore, if God really valued free will, he would prevent mental illness. The soul-making theodicy fails because mental illness actually deprives sufferers of their ability to comprehend their existence in relation to God and His creation; therefore, if God really valued spiritual growth, He would prevent mental illness. It also won't do to say that the suffering of the mentally ill gives others the chance to be morally good, because the pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs to treat mental illness are infamously motivated by profit rather than altruism. The afterlife response fails because to be mentally ill for eternity would cause even more suffering. Skeptical theism is inconsistent with the fact that we try to treat people with mental illness to cure them; if we really believed that God had an unknown, morally-justifying reason to allow people to be mentally ill, then we would not try to cure mental illness ourselves. And, of course, the fact that we can treat mental illness shows that it is not logically impossible to do so. In light of this, how can a theist defend their belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, morally-perfect god?

Read another response by Charles Taliaferro
Read another response about Religion
Print